Pros & Cons
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- Very sharp.
- Minimal distortion.
- Compact design.
- Metal construction.
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- Not weather sealed.
- Hood complicates filter changes.
Pentax HD DA 70mm F2.4 Limited Specs
| 35mm Equivalent (Telephoto) | N/A mm |
| 35mm Equivalent (Wide) | 105 |
| Dimensions | 1.0 by 2.5 inches |
| Lens Mount | Pentax K |
| Stabilization | None |
| Type | Lens |
| Weight | 4.6 |
The Pentax HD DA 70mm F2.4 Limited ($499.95 direct) is a compact, short telephoto lens compatible with APS-C SLRs from Pentax. It covers roughly the same field of view as a 105mm lens on a full-frame camera and captures images that are quite crisp. It's part of the company's Limited lens series, and as such boasts a sturdy all-metal construction, as well as a compact design. But it omits the weather sealing that you get with even entry-level Pentax cameras. Its aperture is also a little narrow, especially when compared with the Pentax SMC FA 77mm F1.8 Limited ($899.95), a full-frame lens that's built to the same standard, and is quite compact in its own right, but more expensive.
Design
The 70mm F2.4 ($348.00 at Amazon) measures just 1 by 2.5 inches (HD) and weighs 4.6 ounces. It is identical in size and shape to the older SMC DA 70mm F2.4 Limited, but adds an improved HD lens coating and rounded aperture blades. It includes a screw-in, telescoping metal hood and a push-on lens cap. You'll have to take off the hood to add or remove a 49mm filter, which can be a pain if you frequenly employ varying levels of ND or a circular polarizing filter. You can buy the lens in silver or black, each with a red accent ring.
The barrel is all metal, with a narrow, knurled manual focus ring at its front. The focus ring can be turned at any time, even when the camera is set to autofocus. A focus scale, marked in feet and meters, shows the distance at which the lens is set. It runs from the minimum focus distance (2.3 feet) to infinity, with hard stops at either end. The working distance is fine for portraiture, but certainly doesn't qualify the 70mm as a macro. At its closest working distance the lens magnifies objects at just 1:8.3 life-size.
Unlike most Pentax D-SLRs, and some lenses like the HD DA 20-40mm F2.8-4 ED Limited DC WR($496.95 at Amazon), the 70mm Limited is not weather sealed.
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Image Quality
I used Imatest to check the sharpness and distortion characteristics of the lens when paired with the 24-megapixel K-3($419.00 at Amazon). We consider an image to be sharp if it scores 1,800 lines per picture height using a center-weighted methodology. The 70mm notches 2,003 lines at f/2.4, with just a little bit of softness at the very edges of the frame. Narrowing the aperture to f/4 improves that figure to 2,319 lines, crisp from edge to edge, and the lens is at its best at f/5.6 where it records 2,396 lines.
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Distortion is a nonissue; the 70mm only shows about a half percent, which is irrelevant in field conditions. Illumination is also fairly even from edge to edge. The corners are slightly dimmer than the center, by about 1.3EV at f/2.4 and f/2.8, but at f/4 and narrower the difference is imperceptible.
The 70mm isn't designed for use with a full-frame camera like the K-1 ($1,335.00 at Amazon) , but its image circle is large enough to cover the larger image sensor format, albeit with weak image quality at the outer third of the frame. At f/2.4 there's a moderate vignette and edges are blurry, but if you frame your subject toward the center they'll be hidden by depth of field. The vignette is gone at f/4, but the periphery of the frame remains blurred until you stop all the way down to f/16. It's not an ideal lens for the K-1, but if you're upgrading from an APS-C camera and don't have the budget to step up to the 77mm FA Limited immediately, the 70mm will get the job done in the meantime. The image above was shot with the K-1, with the 70mm set to f/2.4.
Conclusions
The Pentax HD DA 70mm F2.4 Limited is an impressive lens. It's well built, compact, and very sharp, even at its maximum aperture. There's a little softness at the edges at f/2.4, but that's a nonissue if you're using it for shallow depth of field portraiture, and by the time you get to f/4 the lens is tack sharp from edge to edge. The worst thing you can say about it is that it's not the FA 77mm Limited. That lens is legendary in the Pentax world; it's built to the same standards as the DA 70mm, and is capable of capturing even more light and a shallower depth of field when desired. It's also more expensive, but offers compatibility with full-frame cameras and has a very special look to it. The DA 70mm is no slouch, though, and if you value its compact size and are happy with an f/2.4 optic, it's an excellent choice.
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